The Economy
How to Get Along When the Sky is Falling

By Carole Hodges, The YES Connection

I have to admit, the incessant talk of financial ruin is getting to me. There are limits to my solvency - just like yours. Like any business owner or employee, I need that next client or paycheck in order to feel secure. Foreclosure rates and gasoline prices are rising. Home values are falling, and stock prices are on a seesaw. News of the latest financial failures screams at us from the front page of every newspaper.

Can you feel the FEAR?

OK - STOP!! Right now, look around you. What do you see? Is your home or office there? Did you eat breakfast this morning? Can you slow down and appreciate the rise and fall of your breath, treasure the gift of life? Do you have a friend or family member you can share a meal with?

Look up at the sky. Even if it is sunny, there may be clouds. As you look at the clouds, you will see that they change constantly. Our emotions are like those clouds: they never stay the same. You cannot feel happiness that is endless. Soon it leaves and you feel the contrast, which makes way for happiness to come again. Fear is an emotional cloud, a storm or gray day that will also pass. The truth is that YOU are still there.

If you are a business owner, what can you do? The first thing is to be aware that social emotion is real, just as a cloud is real. A short time ago, low interest rates were diving up home prices and people were refinancing to pull out money. There was a general euphoria and free spending. Now, fear is causing people to contract.

Fear is destructive. If everyone goes into fear and pulls back spending at the same time, the impact on the economy is precipitous - the Great Depression is a perfect example. On a personal level, fear affects individuals in the form of stress, even disease. Fear can rip apart marriages and cause tension and flare-ups in all relationships. Still, we have a real economic situation. How do you respond?

Examine your business for two things: Opportunity to streamline and minimize expense, and Opportunity to provide greater value to others to help them through this difficult time.

Streamline your business. Examine expenses, time and results. Start by looking at your financial expenditures.  Make a list of any expenses that, upon reflection, you find unnecessary.  Next to each expense, note how much time the expense costs you or saves you.  And then consider whether the expense actually benefits you by helping create additional business.  Weigh the cost, the impact on time and the overall benefit.  Carefully evaluate what is extraneous before eliminating items.  Consider negotiating for products and services that give you some benefit, since suppliers will often reduce their fees rather than lose your business entirely.  Negotiation benefits you, other businesses and the overall economy.

Find the silver lining. Look for ways to assist your clients during this time of fear and financial duress.  Examine your product or service to emphasize the means by which you can help them weather this difficult time: Can you help them make more money?  Reduce their overall expenses?  Relieve their stress and stay healthy?  Be creative.  Perhaps you can reduce price, either to sell more now or to build toward a long-term gain.  Be willing to negotiate for a win-win solution.  I know one seminar leader who is allowing 3 people to come to an event for the price of one.  Her offer encourages interested people to talk up the event to others in order to get the discount, and she will get new people into her pipeline for future events.

Keep your spirits high. We all have our worries, yet fear can be a trap. A feeling of lack can cause us to make shortsighted decisions, often creating the very thing we fear. The truth is that our world economy is always in a state of flux. With every change there is opportunity. No matter what is going on, in the economy or in your business, you can CHOOSE your attitude. Take time to enjoy the arrival of spring with the explosion of color. Be grateful that you have the opportunity to provide greater value to others - especially now.

Society has its ups and downs. Joseph Campbell studied culture and religion and took a longer view of our place in the world. He summed up our current challenges well:

"Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging."

"When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness."

This is a time for excellence, faith and creativity. You will grow, and you will change. Accept this and you can drop the resistance that is the real cause of your pain. Look for opportunities to be of service, where you can truly say, YES, I can help. That is the YES connection.